Me Dennis, having been made prisoner late in the evening, wasremoved to a neighbouring round-house for that night, and carriedbefore a justice for examination on the next day, Saturday. Thecharges against him being numerous and weighty, and it being inparticular proved, by the testimony of Gabriel Varden, that he hadshown a special desire to take his life, he was committed fortrial. Moreover he was honoured with the distinction of beingconsidered a chief among the insurgents, and received from themagistrate"s lips the complimentary assurance that he was in aposition of imminent danger, and would do well to prepare himselffor the worst.
To say that Mr Dennis"s modesty was not somewhat startled by thesehonours, or that he was altogether prepared for so flattering areception, would be to claim for him a greater amount of stoicalphilosophy than even he possessed. Indeed this gentleman"sstoicism was of that not uncommon kind, which enables a man to bearwith exemplary fortitude the afflictions of his friends, butrenders him, by way of counterpoise, rather selfish and sensitivein respect of any that happen to befall himself. It is thereforeno disparagement to the great officer in question to state, withoutdisguise or concealment, that he was at first very much alarmed,and that he betrayed divers emotions of fear, until his reasoningpowers came to his relief, and set before him a more hopefulprospect.
In proportion as Mr Dennis exercised these intellectual qualitieswith which he was gifted, in reviewing his best chances of comingoff handsomely and with small personal inconvenience, his spiritsrose, and his confidence increased. When he remembered the greatestimation in which his office was held, and the constant demandfor his services; when he bethought himself, how the Statute Bookregarded him as a kind of Universal Medicine applicable to men,women, and children, of every age and variety of criminalconstitution; and how high he stood, in his official capacity, inthe favour of the Crown, and both Houses of Parliament, the Mint,the Bank of England, and the Judges of the land; when herecollected that whatever Ministry was in or out, he remained theirpeculiar pet and panacea, and that for his sake England stoodsingle and conspicuous among the civilised nations of the earth:
when he called these things to mind and dwelt upon them, he feltcertain that the national gratitude MUST relieve him from theconsequences of his late proceedings, and would certainly restorehim to his old place in the happy social system.
With these crumbs, or as one may say, with these whole loaves ofcomfort to regale upon, Mr Dennis took his place among the escortthat awaited him, and repaired to jail with a manly indifference.
Arriving at Newgate, where some of the ruined cells had beenhastily fitted up for the safe keeping of rioters, he was warmlyreceived by the turnkeys, as an unusual and interesting case, whichagreeably relieved their monotonous duties. In this spirit, he wasfettered with great care, and conveyed into the interior of theprison.
"Brother," cried the hangman, as, following an officer, hetraversed under these novel circumstances the remains of passageswith which he was well acquainted, "am I going to be along withanybody?"
"If you"d have left more walls standing, you"d have been alone,"
was the reply. "As it is, we"re cramped for room, and you"ll havecompany."
"Well," returned Dennis, "I don"t object to company, brother. Irather like company. I was formed for society, I was."
"That"s rather a pity, an"t it?" said the man.
"No," answered Dennis, "I"m not aware that it is. Why should it bea pity, brother?"
"Oh! I don"t know," said the man carelessly. "I thought that waswhat you meant. Being formed for society, and being cut off inyour flower, you know--"
"I say," interposed the other quickly, "what are you talking of?
Don"t. Who"s a-going to be cut off in their flowers?"
"Oh, nobody particular. I thought you was, perhaps," said the man.
Mr Dennis wiped his face, which had suddenly grown very hot, andremarking in a tremulous voice to his conductor that he had alwaysbeen fond of his joke, followed him in silence until he stopped ata door.
"This is my quarters, is it?" he asked facetiously.
"This is the shop, sir," replied his friend.
He was walking in, but not with the best possible grace, when hesuddenly stopped, and started back.
"Halloa!" said the officer. "You"re nervous."
"Nervous!" whispered Dennis in great alarm. "Well I may be. Shutthe door."
"I will, when you"re in," returned the man.
"But I can"t go in there," whispered Dennis. "I can"t be shut upwith that man. Do you want me to be throttled, brother?"
The officer seemed to entertain no particular desire on the subjectone way or other, but briefly remarking that he had his orders, andintended to obey them, pushed him in, turned the key, and retired.
Dennis stood trembling with his back against the door, andinvoluntarily raising his arm to defend himself, stared at a man,the only other tenant of the cell, who lay, stretched at his falllength, upon a stone bench, and who paused in his deep breathing asif he were about to wake. But he rolled over on one side, let hisarm fall negligently down, drew a long sigh, and murmuringindistinctly, fell fast asleep again.
Relieved in some degree by this, the hangman took his eyes for aninstant from the slumbering figure, and glanced round the cell insearch of some "vantage-ground or weapon of defence. There wasnothing moveable within it, but a clumsy table which could not bedisplaced without noise, and a heavy chair. Stealing on tiptoetowards this latter piece of furniture, he retired with it into theremotest corner, and intrenching himself behind it, watched theenemy with the utmost vigilance and caution.